"Jeremy builds real apps for real customers. That's why I can heartily recommend this book. Go out and write some great apps...and keep this book handy."From the Foreword by Jeff ProsiseBuild Exceptionally Immersive and Responsive Touch-Based Windows Store Apps for Windows 8 with C# and XAMLThis is the first practical guide to building breakthrough applications for Windows 8 from project templates through publication to the new Windows Store. Microsoft "MVP of the Year" Jeremy Likness helps you combine your existing developer skills with new Visual Studio 2012 tools and best practices to create apps that are intuitive and innovative. His guidance and insight will help you dive into Windows 8 development-and gain a powerful competitive advantage for years to come.Likness illuminates the entire apps lifecycle, from planning and Model-View-View Model (MVVM) based design through coding, testing, packaging, and deployment. He covers both business and consumer apps, showing how Windows 8/WinRT development builds upon and contrasts with older WPF and Silverlight approaches.Using carefully crafted downloadable code examples and sample projects, Likness shows how to make the most of new platform features, including integrated social networking, search, contracts, charms, and tiles. Throughout, he addresses crucial development challenges that have only been discussed on MSDN, blog posts, and Twitter feeds-and never with this depth and clarity before.Coverage includes. Mastering real-world Windows 8 development for all devices and form factors . Understanding the new WinRT framework and the unique characteristics of Windows 8 apps. Designing apps that are faster, more responsive, do more with less, and maximize battery life. Creating exceptionally fluid interfaces with VS 2012 templates, built-in animations, and XAML. Building apps that respond consistently to multiple forms of input, including complex touch manipulations. Using contracts and charms to expose services or enable users to do so. Providing information to users through Live Tiles even when your app isn't running. Connecting your app seamlessly to multiple data sources, including social networks and cloud storage. Syndicating rich, network-based content. Using Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM). Securing Windows 8 apps through authentication and authorization. Efficiently testing, debugging, packaging, and deploying apps

Foreword xvPreface xixChapter 1 The New Windows Runtime 1Looking Back: Win32 and .NET 2Looking Forward: Rise of the NUI 8Introducing the Windows Store Application 12Windows 8 Design 14Fast and Fluid 15Snap and Scale 15Use of Right Contracts 16Great Tiles 17Connected and Alive 19Embrace Windows 8 Design Principles 19Windows 8 Tools of the Trade 19Blend for Visual Studio 20HTML5 and JavaScript 21C++ and XAML 23VB/C# and XAML 24Behind the Scenes of WinRT 25WPF, Silverlight, and the Blue Stack 26Summary 28Chapter 2 Getting Started 29Setting Up Your Environment 30Windows 8 30Visual Studio 2012 35Blend 36Hello, Windows 8 37Creating Your First Windows 8 Application 37Templates 37The ImageHelper Application 42Under the Covers 53Summary 60Chapter 3 Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML) 61Declaring the UI 62The Visual Tree 64Dependency Properties 67Attached Properties 70Data-Binding 73Value Converters 78Storyboards 80Styles and Resources 85Layout 88Canvas 88Grid 89StackPanel 91VirtualizingPanel and VirtualizingStackPanel 93WrapGrid 94VariableSizedWrapGrid 96ContentControl 97ItemsControl 99ScrollViewer 99ViewBox 100GridView 102ListView 105FlipView 106ListBox 106Common Controls 107Summary 109Chapter 4 Windows 8 Applications 111Layouts and Views 111The Simulator 112The Visual State Manager 115Semantic Zoom 119Handling User Input 122Pointer Events 124Manipulation Events 126Mouse Support 128Keyboard Support 129Visual Feedback 131Targeting 132Context Menus 134The Application Bar 136Icons and Splash Screens 143About Page 145Sensors 148Accelerometer 149Compass 149Geolocation 150Gyrometer 151Inclinometer 151Light Sensor 152Orientation Sensor 153Summary 154Chapter 5 Application Lifecycle 157Process Lifetime Management 160Activation 161Suspension 163Termination 166Resume 166Navigation 168Application Data API 172Connected and Alive 176Custom Splash Screen 177Summary 179Chapter 6 Data 181Application Settings 181Accessing and Saving Data 183The Need for Speed and Threading 189Understanding async and await 191Lambda Expressions 194IO Helpers 195Embedded Resources 196Collections 199Language Integrated Query (LINQ) 200Web Content 203Syndicated Content 205Streams, Buffers, and Byte Arrays 207Compressing Data 208Encrypting and Signing Data 211Web Services 214OData Support 217Summary 219Chapter 7 Tiles and Toasts 221Basic Tiles 221Live Tiles 222Badges 229Secondary Tiles 231Toast Notifications 236Windows Notification Service 242Summary 250Chapter 8 Giving Your Application Charm 253Searching 256Sharing 266Sourcing Content for Sharing 267Receiving Content as a Share Target 274Settings 280Summary 283Chapter 9 MVVM and Testing 285UI Design Patterns 286The Model 292The View 293The View Model 295The Portable Class Library 296Why Test? 301Testing Eliminates Assumptions 302Testing Kills Bugs at the Source 302Testing Helps Document Code 303Testing Makes Extending and Maintaining Applications Easier 304Testing Improves Architecture and Design 305Testing Makes Better Developers 305Conclusion: Write Those Unit Tests! 306Unit Tests 306Windows Store Unit Testing Framework 307Mocks and Stubs 311Summary 315Chapter 10 Packaging and Deploying 317The Windows Store 317Discovery 318Reach 322Business Models 323Advertising 328Preparing Your App for the Store 329The Process 331The App Certification Kit 332What to Expect 335Side-Loading 337Summary 339Index 341